As Trotsky didn't exactly say, you may not be interested in electronic snoops, but snoops are interested in you, whether or not you keep Coke's secret recipe on your iPhone.

You don't need to be a spook to care about encryption. If you travel with your computer or keep it in a place where other people can put their hands on it, you're vulnerable.

One common puzzle for the security-minded is how to work with confidential data on the road. Sometimes you can't bring your laptop, or don't want to. But working on somebody else's machine exposes you to malware and leaves behind all kinds of electronic trails.

A minimum precaution: keep your anti-malware protections up to date, and install security updates for all your software as soon as they arrive.

I learned the technology and tradecraft of electronic security in self defense, with a lot of expert help.

Sudan expelled bin Laden on May 18, 1996, to Afghanistan.